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Prep skaters can't find net in Xaverian loss

No matter what the sport is, when you don't score, you don't win.

The St. John's Prep hockey team found that out the hard way last night, dropping their Catholic Conference tilt at Xaverian, 3-0.

The Eagles (5-4-3) had 16 shots in the first period and had 34 for the contest, but couldn't dent the net once as Hawks' keeper Kyle MacDonald stopped everything fired his way. St. John's trailed, 1-0, with 5:40 remaining when host Xaverian doubled its lead on a Bill Scannell tally. The hosts added an empty netter from Matt Morin in the final minute.

"We're having a really difficult time finishing off," said Prep head coach Kristian Hanson, his team now 1-3-1 in conference play. "Plus, we've been very inconsistent. There are spots where we look good, and other times where we simply don't.

"We need to start winning battles for the puck, finding a way to get to the net, playing with more aggressiveness and intensity, and blocking shots. With our schedule where teams like Xaverian, Malden Catholic and St. John's of Shrewsbury are improved this year and every single team we face is top notch, you need constant focus and preparation."

The Eagles have scored just 32 times in a dozen games thus far. The team's first line of Christian Cowles, Colin Prior and Dan Haugh has more than have of that total, scoring a combined 19 goals to date.

Emergency starter Eric Clifford of Salem made 29 shots in the loss for St. John's, which hosts B.C. High Saturday at the Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington (2:30 p.m.). The Eagles defeated B.C. High, 3-1, two weeks ago in their first meeting.